Elena Nilsen
Elena Nilsen is a research chemist with the USGS Oregon Water Science Center.
Elena Nilsen is a Research Chemist at the U.S. Geological Survey Oregon Water Science Center and a Program Manager of the Water Quality Processes Program for the Water Mission Area. She studies contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and other threats to aquatic food webs in rivers, estuaries, and coastal ocean habitats. She also studies uptake of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in aquatic food webs and she serves as a co-lead of the Environmental Health Program’s PFAS Interdisciplinary Science Team. She completed a Bachelor of Science degree in biology at UC San Diego and a PhD in marine geochemistry at UC Santa Cruz. She started with the USGS as a Mendenhall Post-doctoral Fellow with the USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center in the San Francisco Bay Area studying impacts of contamination on estuarine ecology and geochemistry. She has been with the Oregon Water Science Center since 2007.
Research Interests
Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) including per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS); sediment and tissue chemistry; contaminant impacts on First Food species (e.g., Pacific lamprey, white sturgeon, salmonids, shellfish); primary productivity, food web dynamics; biomarkers; and synergistic effects.
Professional Experience
Co-Lead, PFAS Interdisciplinary Science Team, U.S. Geological Survey, 2022 – present
Program Manager, Water Quality Processes Program, U.S. Geological Survey, 2021 – present
Research Chemist, U.S. Geological Survey, 2006 – present
Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellow, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 2004–2006
Graduate Student Research Assistant, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 1999–2004
Biology Research Assistant, private biotechnology industry, Silicon Valley, CA 1996–1999
Education and Certifications
University of California, San Diego, Biology, B.Sc., 1996
University of California, Santa Cruz, Ocean Sciences, Ph.D., 2004
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Geology, Menlo Park, CA, Mendenhall Post-Doctoral Fellow in Organic Geochemistry, 2004–2006
Science and Products
Assessing reproductive and endocrine parameters in male largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) along a contaminant gradient in the lower Columbia River, USA
Spatial and temporal trends in occurrence of emerging and legacy contaminants in the Lower Columbia River 2008-2010
Foodweb transfer, sediment transport, and biological impacts of emerging and legacy organic contaminants in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA: Contaminants and Habitat (ConHab) Project
A survey of benthic sediment contaminants in reaches of the Columbia River Estuary based on channel sedimentation characteristics
Reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and wastewater indicators in streambed sediments of the lower Columbia River basin, Oregon and Washington
Contaminants of legacy and emerging concern in largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA
Water-quality monitoring for a pilot piling removal field evaluation, Coal Creek Slough, Washington, 2008-09
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
Assessing reproductive and endocrine parameters in male largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) along a contaminant gradient in the lower Columbia River, USA
Spatial and temporal trends in occurrence of emerging and legacy contaminants in the Lower Columbia River 2008-2010
Foodweb transfer, sediment transport, and biological impacts of emerging and legacy organic contaminants in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA: Contaminants and Habitat (ConHab) Project
A survey of benthic sediment contaminants in reaches of the Columbia River Estuary based on channel sedimentation characteristics
Reconnaissance of pharmaceuticals and wastewater indicators in streambed sediments of the lower Columbia River basin, Oregon and Washington
Contaminants of legacy and emerging concern in largescale suckers (Catostomus macrocheilus) and the foodweb in the lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, USA
Water-quality monitoring for a pilot piling removal field evaluation, Coal Creek Slough, Washington, 2008-09
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.